1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and methods for shielding the eyes, and in particular, to eye shields designed to attach to a safety helmet.
2. Description of Related Art
Construction workers and emergency personnel often wear safety helmets under varying conditions and for extended periods of time. The users of these helmets may also wear safety glasses for avoiding eye injury, or ordinary sunglasses to deal with bright light and glare. When doing close-up work or when working in a relatively dark environment, safety helmet users will often temporarily remove their glasses. The temporarily removed glasses are then often lost or damaged. In some cases a user may wish to glance at a bright scene or a dark scene and therefore may wish to briefly don or remove sunglasses, but this process is inconvenient and for efficiency's sake may be performed by temporarily lifting or removing the safety helmet. Obviously, helmet removal is to be avoided for safety reasons.
The safety helmets known as hardhats typically have right and left slots along the lower rim of the helmet for holding accessories such as ear muffs. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,950. In FIGS. 6 and 7 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,528 a visor 96 is attached through pivot 92 to arm 88, which connects through pivot 92 to a connecting member 86 that is attached to side slots on a hard hat from above. When not needed, visor 96 swings upwardly to a position above the brim of the hard hat. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,738.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,738 a safety visor is attached to an arm 21 that is pivotally connected to blocks 22 that are designed to snap into the side slots on a hard hat from above. The visor is positioned in front of the brim when in use. When no longer needed, the visor swings into a position above the brim. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,551.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,393 a pair of hubs each have tongs that snap into rim slots on the sides of a conventional safety helmet. A pair of telescopic temples project from these hubs so that their longitudinal and angular orientation can be adjusted. A lens is rotatably attached to the ends of the temples in order to flip up from a lower position to a raised position. The pivoting is arranged to allow the lens to flip up and still remain subjacent to the brim of the helmet. Thus, the eye shield attachment can be conveniently placed on a safety helmet and adjusted so that the lens is located at a position that is in front of the user's eyes and spaced far enough away for comfort.
See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,207 (eye shade is bolted or screwed to bill of a hard hat); U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,854 (face shield hinged to a bracket that is attached to the side of a protective helmet); U.S. Pat. No. 6,490,729 (goggles straps can be pushed onto quick fasteners that attach to the edge of a safety helmet); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,959,989 (top center edge of safety glasses clip into connector on front of helmet); as well as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2002/0069489 (pair of wings clip into the side slots of a hard hat to provide a nook for keeping sunglasses handy).
Designing an accessory that can attach to a safety helmet is complicated by the fact that rim slots vary from helmet to helmet. While one may make a clip that is small enough to fit into the smallest rim slot, this clip will be loose in larger rim slots. Also, a known clip has a trio of tongs, the center one having a step or shoulder that deflects as it passes through the rim slot before snapping over the upper edge of the slot. While one may make this tong long enough to accommodate the largest rim slot, again excessive play will occur for smaller slots. Moreover, looseness or play may result in the accessory accidentally disconnecting from the rim slots. In fact, accidental disconnection from a rim slot is a significant concern even when a clip is designed for the dimensions of a specific rim slot.
See U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,390 (a frame clipped to the bill of a cap pivotally supports a lens); U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,719 (helmet windshield attached to the helmet by pivots 11); U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,233 (alternative visors pivotally connected to the side of a light sports helmet); U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,109; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,739. See also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 264,574; 857,838; 4,322,138; 5,012,528; 5,940,891; 6,618,907; and 7,229,172, as well as U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2006/0158609 and 2006/0236438.